The World of Xan
It is a world of stories, of children's dreams. There are many nations, all associated with a color which permeates the landscape and inhabitants. Keep your wits about you, travelers, for much danger exists throughout. Who ever said a child's dream had to be pleasant? Important Places The Purple Empire A dark and dangerous violet land, formerly ruled by the evil wizard-king Mortek the Vile, and currently run by Jordan Alexander. Since Mortek had a history of crimes against the other nations, Jordan has an uphill battle trying to restore peace between the Purple Empire and its surrounding nations. The Sapphire Lands A blue nation full of well-meaning adventurers and dangerous landscapes. A danger of this land is that much of it is taken up by the Blue Desert, where blue sands, extreme temperatures, and terrifying monsters live. Their capital, the Ruby City, exists in an oasis in this desert. The Golden Forest-Kingdom A bright forest-kingdom, where the trees and grass share a golden hue. Beware, however, because the forests hide dangerous beasts and cruel empires. Orange Island An orange volcanic island, home to two factions-- the pirates and the androids. The androids work to advance scientific advancement and make the world a better place, while the pirates are largely self-interested, but honorable. A volcano forms the largest natural feature, spewing indigo lava every few months. The Crimson Country A well meaning but incompetent republic with red lands, with many different subcultures and races all wanting their own say. They have a capital in the underground mining city creatively called the Underground City. Arch-rivals with the Lime Lands, despite being very similar ideologically. They claim that the Lime Lands were once part of the Crimson Country, but rebelled and separated ages ago. Separated from their neighboring country, the Lime Lands, by the Rainbow Wall. The Lime Lands A well-meaning but incompetent republic with green lands. Less diverse than the Crimson Country, but more ecologically focused, with more attempts to preserve their naturally occurring features, like the Grasslands of Um. They claim that the Crimson Country was once theirs, but they rebelled and separated in order to exploit their natural resources for monetary gain. The Gateway On a tiny island in the Pink Sea, there is an ancient archway with a gate. Legend has it, if the gate is opened, Amariah and her crew can be called back, across the ages, to save the world. Creatures and Races Many strange and creepy creatures live alongside humans in these lands including: * Sky-Sharks- like sharks except they can fly. Primarily found in the Purple Empire as servants for the Evil Wizard Mortek the Vile. Can and will eat you. * Mega-Spiders- Sentient talking spiders which grow up to about the size of a human. Despite being rather creepy by human standards, they are actually quite kind, building webs and traps for the more evil monsters, and often willing to protect the innocent from danger. Found in most nations and especially common in forests. * Rabbits of Doom- Adorable golden, pink, or purple bunnies which are actually carnivorous, luring the unwise into their doom with their cuteness, then attacking them en masse and feasting on the unlucky corpse. Their fur often is the color of their surroundings. * Androids- clockwork, steam-powered sentient robots with high levels of intelligence. Many are benevolent scientists or scholars hoping to make the world a better place through knowledge. Some are evil mad scientists bent on concquering all. * Strawm- sentient scarecrows found primarily in the Grasslands of Um in the Lime Lands, they are violently protective of nature. Well-represented in the Lime Lands Parliament. * Talking animals- many species of animal have a sentient subspecies with the ability to talk to each other and to others. Their native tongue of Beast leaves many of them with an accent, however. Animals known to have talking variants are: lions, tigers, bears, wolves, dogs, chickens, eagles, cats, squirrels, ravens, bats, horses, donkeys, turtles, bulls, (actually most animals really, with the exception of most species of fish). * Unicorns- talking horned horses. Beware, they are very serious, and will gore you if you offend them. * Wheel-Monsters- Creatures with wheels for feet and clawed hands. Will gladly eat you. * Gnomes- sentient man-eating underground creatures. They have sharp teeth that can bite through bone. Also weirdly afraid of eggs for some reason. * Head-hunters- creatures that superficially resemble humans, but are really monsters that feed on human brain matter. They attempt to get you to trust them, and then when you are least ready, will chop off your head and put it on their necks to replace the last one. That head originally belonged to its last victim, and was drained of brain matter. Fortunately, they aren't particularly bright, and are fairly easy to trick if you keep your wits about you. * Gourdlings- sentient plant-dwarves with gourds for heads. Primary residents of the Golden Forest-Kingdom. * Wizards/Witches/Mages/Magicians- humans, gnomes, Gourdlings, Scarecrow-Men, or talking animals that are capable of using magical energy and spells to work around the normal laws of physics. Important Characters There are some heroes and villains that are legendary enough to be of note here: * Mortek the Vile- A wizard-emperor, ruler of the Purple Empire. Known for melodramatic monologues, kidnapping young heirs, dastardly plots, and a truly glorious moustache/goatee combo. * Jordan Alexander- 29 year old adventurer from the Lime Lands, who left his home at 14 to see the world so he could have a good story to tell those back home. Along the way, he discovers his magic abilities, and makes a group of close friends. * Stephen Woden- 28 year old adventurer from the Crimson Country, who becomes a fellow traveller with Jordan Alexander's party at the age of 13. Wears an eyepatch he doesn't really need, and often escapes danger through outsmarting the various enemies he encounters. * Adriana- a Mega-Spider and friend of Stephen and Jordan, she travels with the party, often providing physical back-up and intimidation if necessary. * Button-Eyes- a Straan and fellow traveler with the aforementioned adventuring party. * Clickety Clack- An android and professor of archaeology who travels with the party. Think a steampunk robot Indiana Jones, and that's Clickety. * Sir Rubyred the Valient- a knight-errant in shiny scarlet armor who travels with the party. Kinda dumb, but with a huge heart. Also can't spell the word "valiant". His armor is actually the Scarlet Armor of Friendship. * Princess Verdant- The 29 year old princess of the Golden Forest-Kingdom, once known as Prince Vern. * Duke Amaranth- The 26 year old heir to the Sapphire Lands' throne, who ascended to the throne at the age of 16. * Captain Pumpkinbeard- A pirate captain with a beard as orange as pumpkins, hence the name. He died in battle, eaten by one of Mortek's sky-sharks. * Godkinna the wise- a mostly-benevolent witch-queen of the Golden Forest-Kingdom. She will not tolerate any threats to her land, but will not kill you arbitrarily. Usually. Ancient/Legendary Figures * Amariah- a wise queen of an age long gone. She traveled here from a faraway land, and made peace in the world with the help of her close friends: Amicus the Android, Spøtt the Giant Talking Wolf, and Sagax the Scarecrow-Man. * Amicus- A living creature made of red metal, and Amariah's true love. Was legendary for his kindness and love, and would often go into battle for those that he cared for. It is a strange event of history that this android can exist, since all records indicate that androids were invented only a few centuries ago. * Spøtt- a giant talking wolf and Amariah's oldest friend. Despite being fearsome in both appearance and as a foe on the battlefield, was known to be fearful and kind. * Sagax- A Strawman scientist and inventor who traveled with Amariah and company, whose inventions were so advanced and well-built that they survive the millennia since his time. * Roveena- a powerful she-mage, and archnemesis of Amariah. Legend has it that she led a coven of she-mages that oppressed the World of Xan in the Pre-Amarinian Age. A master strategist and manipulator, she was nigh-unstoppable before the Amarinian Cohort arrived. Mortek the Vile claims her as a distant ancestor, but far too much time has passed since her age to prove anything. History *Note: All of the major lands set their calendars by different historical events. For comprehensibility, understand that PT= Purple Time, CT=Crimson Time, OT=Orange Time, GT=Gold Time, LT=Lime Time, and ST=Sapphire Time. Attempts will be made to have events given corresponding years in the various Time scales. The current year is 12017 PT, 22143 ST, 2249 CT, 2247 LT, 141 GT, and 582 OT. **Note II: This record is based on the research of Clickety Clack, archaeologist/adventurer. His record has many gaps and inconsistencies, so this information is incomplete, and at times contadictory. He apologizes for any confusion this causes. 0 ST to 126ST: The Age of Amariah After the defeat of the sinister she-mages, Amariah ruled Xan with fairness and justice, creating an era of rapid technological and social gains. Artifacts from this era are quite valuable, for their rarity as well as their power and technological superiority to anything seen since. Artifacts since found include the Silver Boots of Rapid Transport, supposedly worn by Amariah to instantaneously travel from place to place. Circa -10,000 PT, 126 ST, -19770 LT, -21876 GT, -21435 OT, -19768 CT : The End of the Age of Amariah Legendary heroine Amariah, who is said to have defeated the wicked she-mages and united the World of Xan with the help of a metal man, a Straw Figure, and a fearsome yet timid wolf companion, dies peacefully in her sleep. The world slowly descends into war. 134 ST- 258 ST: The Doomsday Wars In the power-vacuum created after the death of Amariah, war breaks out between the four corners of the globe, each seeking control over the rest. With the highly advanced technologies, the war lasted over a century, escalating to the point, legends say, of reshaping the continents and scattering the peoples and cultures all across the world. The strongest remnants of Amarinian culture formed Ruby City, in the oasis of a wasteland that had once been a lush jungle, in remembrance. Those peoples’ land eventually became the Sapphire Lands. -21245 OT to -21270 OT, 316 ST: The Genesis Storm When the Supervolcano on Orange Island erupted, a rainbow storm covered all the land, reshaping the biomes into different forms. Also, It was really freaking trippy. 0PT, 10126 ST: The Purported Birth Year of Mortek the Vile Mortek claims that this is his birth year, making him 12,003 years old, but most recent archaeological evidence suggests he was really born only 2,003 years ago. The Lime-Crimson Civil War: Circa -2LT to 10LT or 0CT to 12 CT, 19894 ST to 19906 ST The historical evidence for this period is scant, but the likeliest explanation for this discrepancy is a brutal civil war divided the two nations, with neither being willing to claim responsibility after the fact, leading to a centuries-long debate over who was to blame. 0CT, -2LT: The Year of Lime Secession: This is when the Crimsonians believe the Lime-Landers seceded. 0LT, 2CT: The Year of Crimsonite Secession: This year is the year the Lime-Landers claim the Crimson Country seceded from their nation. 0 OT, 21561 ST: First sentient android created Mad inventor Rossem Woden (a distant ancestor of Stephen Woden) invents a sentient android to help with his calculations for multiversal navigation. That robot went on to build several more like him to further aid in computation. The formula, Rossem’s Multiversal Theorem, was taken by Stephen Woden Prime to help modify the Interterra relay to make more stable portals. The androids, meanwhile, went on to form a society on then-uninhabited Orange Island. To this day, they honor and respect the Woden name. 0 GT, 22002 ST: Beginning of the Reign of Godkinna the Wise After years of brutal anarchy in the Gold Forest, where monsters and humans warred for survival, Godkinna established herself ruler, making a tense but stable peace between all factions, the Pax Godkinna. Her reign continues through this day, uncontested because of her no-nonsense attitude. 11926 PT, : Mortek the Vile Conquers the Purple Lands, Renaming it the Purple Empire After a bloody 1016-year-long war, Mortek the Vile finally conquers all of the Purple lands, which were originally ruled by a variety of minor estates. Those who led the fight against his reign were swiftly beheaded, disemboweled, their organs trod upon by reanimated unicorns (an abomination against all sanity), reanimated to be slaughtered again, their heads put upon pikes to be eaten by sky sharks, their skeletons (whatever remained of them after all of this), ground into dust to cover a field of purple maize, which was then burned to the ground, the ashes collected and dumped into the "Royal Tank of His Most Glorious Excrement", which is, whenever full, dumped into a local volcano. Even his supporters acknowledge that this is a bit over the top, or at least they did, until Mortek heard this and subjected those who said such things to the same treatment. People didn't really criticize his decision-making after that. 12007 PT: Jordan Alexander and his cohort defeat Mortek the Vile After many years of traveling, the troop of Alexander, with the help of the temporally-displaced Amarinian Cohort, faced against their archenemy: Mortek the Vile. It came down to the creativity and courage of Jordan Alexander, and the trickster genius of Stephen Woden, who together trapped him in a giant vat of water. Water blocked his spellcasting ability, leaving him helpless. He was afterwards locked in the dungeon of his own castle, and kept at bay by a water-flow system built by Button-Eyes. Afterwards, Jordan ascended to rule the Purple Lands, with Stephen as his strategic advisor. Sir Rubyred the Valient led their team of knights (including Clickety Clack) on adventures through Xan, to help the helpless. Button-Eyes became a famous engineer, building mechanical wonders for the newly freed Purple Lands. Powerful Artifacts and Legendary Items Several powerful Artifacts and items have been recovered by Clickety Clack and his traveling Party. These include: * The Silver Boots of Rapid Transport * The Light-Sword of Justice- the weapon wielded by Amariah that cut off the head of Roveena. Well, one of them anyway. It is a glowy sword that glows with green flames if wielded for Justice, and Red flames if wielded for vengeance. Beware. Vengeance corrupts. Especially if you use this sword during it. * The Storm Staff- a staff with lightning-shaped runes on it. Gives the user the ability to control storm magic. * A Crate of Healing potions and Pills * The Scarlet Armor of Friendship- a suit of armor purported to house the soul of Amicus, android ally and closest friend of Amariah. The wearer gains strength and power when fighting for and alongside his true companions. *The Axe of Sagax- an item that Sagax wielded in battle against the forces of evil, but was later cursed by his archenemy (without their initial knowledge) to be the downfall of their friendship. This axe was given by Sagax to Amicus as a gift to symbolize the end of wars. This axe killed Amicus, ending the friendship between Sagax and the others. *The Wand Of Roveena- the wand of Amariah's archnemesis, the she-mage Roveena. It is extremely powerful, but corrupts the user to use it for evil.